The government commission approved the deal to sell the Russian business of Decathlon

The Government Commission for the Control of Foreign Investments has approved the sale of the business of the French chain Decathlon in Russia. This was announced by Deputy Head of the Ministry of Industry and Trade Viktor Evtukhov.

“Documents for the sale of Decathlon assets in Russia were indeed submitted to the government commission for foreign investment control and considered this week, the deal was approved,” told he (TASS quote).

We are talking about the sale of the Russian network Decathlon, which includes 36 objects. The buyer is the ARM company, which sells clothes and is the owner of the Mango franchise, Yevtukhov said.

According to the deputy head of the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the new owner will be required to open all 35 stores of the chain and save 1,400 jobs.

In the spring of 2022, there were 57 Decathlon stores in Russia. Against the backdrop of the start of a special operation in Ukraine, the chain of stores suspended deliveries to the Russian Federation, and on June 27 completely closed all stores in the country “for an indefinite period.” The company’s plans to sell its assets in Russia became known in January 2023.

In May Evtukhov saidthat the government commission may prevent the company from selling its assets piece by piece, as this may indicate an attempt to circumvent the mandatory conditions for the sale of the business.

May 30 Vedomosti wrotethat the Turkish company FLO Retailing and the Lebanese Azadea Group are negotiating the acquisition of the Russian business of Decathlon. According to them, two variants of the transaction were considered. The first is the buyout of the entire Russian network by the investor and the relaunch of Decathlon stores according to the franchising model, the second is the same, but with the closure of some outlets.